Fame can be annoying, but there are perks too.

I just go where my heart tells me, where my gut tells me to go, where I'm enjoying my life the most, where I feel like I can have the most success. I've truly enjoyed my experience in NASCAR, to the point that I want to do it full time.

On Memorial Day, I was out floating on Lake Norman and came across Denny Hamlin. We struck up a conversation, and one of the first things we were talking about was how much it helped him when he started racing the Cup car and how much it helped his Nationwide program.

My first Indy 500 was one of my high points. I ended up qualifying fourth and I finished fourth. I had a win in Japan a few years later, and then qualifying for Daytona was great as well.

You know, sometimes the little victories that I have throughout the season are not necessarily obvious on the track. Maybe they're another aspect of what I'm doing, winning little victories here and there to get everything in line to be able to perform from top to bottom on race day.

It would be hypocritical of me to use being female in some ways, and diss being female in other ways. It's part of the programme.

People have opinions about everything and especially when you get into that world of animal rights or tree rights or whatever rights, they all have an opinion.